Noor Takaful, the Shari’a compliant insurance arm of Noor Investment Group, announced today that it has signed the ‘Dubai Declaration of Financial Institutions in the United Arab Emirates on Sustainable Finance’, which was initially launched at the United Nations Environmental Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Global Roundtable hosted by the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Climate Change and Environment on 25-26 October 2016. The agreement confirms Noor Takaful’s commitment towards adopting the best environmental and sustainable practices across its operations.

An exclusive signing ceremony was held to mark the occasion. Rajesh Sethi, CEO of Noor Takaful, signed the agreement in the presence of senior officials from both the Ministry of Climate Change & Environment and Noor Takaful.

Speaking about the signing, Dr. Ahmed Aljanahi, Managing Director of Noor Takaful and Deputy Group CEO, Noor Investment Group, said: “This agreement reinforces our commitment to supporting the UAE Vision 2021. It also underpins our efforts in aligning with the country’s strategic objectives and helping to achieve economic, environmental and sustainable development. As per the agreement, we will aim to play a key role in contributing to the growth of businesses through our advanced Takaful solutions, driven by ethical Shari’a principles.”

On her part, Engineer Aisha Al Abdooli, Director of Green Development Department at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, said: “The private-sector finance and insurance entities will play an instrumental role in scaling up green projects such as renewable energy, green buildings and sustainable cities in the next few years, and this presents a real opportunity for the financial sector to strongly contribute to achieving the UAE’s ambition for becoming one of the best countries by 2021.”

She added: “The Dubai Declaration was prepared as the first step to engage financial institutions in knowledge transfer and capacity building on sustainable finance. Noor Takaful’s strong backing for the Declaration will contribute profoundly in fulfilling the pledges made in the Declaration.”

The Dubai Declaration was issued to ensure that financial institutions contribute to the UAE government’s sustainable development goals in line with the UAE Green Agenda. As a result of the declaration, Noor Takaful will share knowledge, experience and support learning and capacity building with other financial institutions. It will also ensure the institution adheres to other ethical and sustainable practices in line with the initiative.